Demolition Man

When 20th century violent criminal Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) breaks out of cryogenic prison in the year 2032 and wreaks havoc in a seemingly peaceful utopian society, wrongfully convicted cop John Spartan (AKA The Demolition Man) is thawed out to bring the maniac to justice.

I don't think I've seen Demolition Man since it came out in 1993; watching it today, I was amazed at how accurate some of its predictions of the future were (in essence, at least): in the film, digital transactions have replaced real money, there's a guy holding what could be considered a digital tablet (albeit a tad chunkier than an iPad), there are self-driving cars, non-contact social greetings (a must during these pandemic days), a board room where a virtual meeting takes place (although Zoom it ain't), and it's not hard to imagine how our current overly-PC/snowflake/cancel culture might eventually go so far as to make swearing illegal. Okay, we still wipe our butts with paper and have sex the old-fashioned way, and I don't see that changing in the next twelve years, but you can't get everything right.

Not only is Demolition Man's vision of 2032 eerily prophetic in many ways, but the film also features a witty script bristling with social satire, star Stallone in one of his best performances of the dumb '90s action flick era (happily mocking his tough guy persona), Wesley Snipes having a blast as the eccentric villain of the piece, and Sandra Bullock being super cute and looking mighty fine in skin-tight leggings (and I'm not even that much of a Bullock fan). Director Marco Brambilla balances the humour and the action superbly, opening and closing with guns a-blazing and huge explosions, but ensures that there is never a dull moment even when Stallone and Snipes aren't busting skulls and shooting up the place.

Hell, this film even features early roles for Rob Schneider and Jack Black that didn't irritate me - miracles do happen!